Family members say they called 911 “several times” before finding their loved ones dead

NEW ORLEANS – City leaders are responding to a suspected murder-suicide that occurred Saturday morning in the Leonidas neighborhood.

According to police, a man and a woman were found dead in a Monroe Street home around 8 a.m. However, relatives of the victims told WWL Louisiana they knew about the situation much earlier.

The family member we spoke to, who wished to remain anonymous, said she received a call around 6:30 a.m. Saturday from another family member telling her to come to Monroe Street.

“That’s what we thought, a hostage situation,” she said.

It was even worse. She said that when they came in, they found her lover and her husband dead.

“That was around 7:13 a.m. No police came. They had been called several times since 4 a.m.,” she said.

We searched Orleans Parish Communication District service records, which show at least three calls were made to the same Monroe Street address early Saturday morning.

At 6:51 a.m., an emergency call was received regarding serious bodily harm in the domestic environment, but the police were reportedly not alerted until about an hour later.

New Orleans Police Department Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said the Orleans Parish coroner would confirm the cause of death, but it appears to be a murder-suicide.

“This is a case of domestic violence,” Kirkpatrick said at a press conference on Saturday evening.

The family member said the man and woman were married.

“This kind of thing has been happening for a long time, but not like this,” said a relative of the victim.

Kirkpatrick claimed an officer did indeed attempt to enter the home following an earlier call, but she said she could not provide further details Saturday.

The NOPD said an investigation into the incident will be launched, beginning from the time the call was made to the time officers responded.

“We’re going to look into the whole thing,” Kirkpatrick said.

On Sunday, Council President Helena Moreno released a statement saying the investigation was “justified.”

Moreno called for domestic violence to be “recognized as the urgent, serious and dangerous issue that it is.”

When asked Saturday if this was a failure of the NOPD or the 911 dispatch center, Kirkpatrick said the 911 dispatch center is not part of the police department but a separate unit that relays information among itself.

OPCD has not yet responded to WWL Louisiana’s request for comment on this matter.

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